Inclusion Strategies for Multi-word Units in Monolingual Dictionaries

Phillip Louw

Abstract

Abstract: This article focuses on inclusion strategies for different types of multi-word units, beit as part of the macrostructure or embedded as treatment units in the microstructure of a specificdictionary. The types of multi-word units discussed range from multi-word lexical items to collocationsand multi-word compound lexical items. The general principles set out in this article areapplied specifically to monolingual school dictionaries that target learners of English in the juniorsecondary phase.In order to discuss inclusion strategies adequately it is, however, necessary to make a cursorydistinction between idioms and collocations, on the one hand, and between collocations and multiwordcompound lexical items, on the other. It is shown that current monolingual dictionaries oftenfail to distinguish between these types and therefore apply potentially confusing inclusion strategies.In the discussion of inclusion strategies for multi-word lexical items that follows, it is shownthat, whereas loan groups and group prepositions require lemmatisation as full multilexical lemmas,the strategy for idioms is not as simple. The problems with a full lemmatisation of idioms arepointed out and an alternative system, whereby idioms are consistently included as sublemmaswith full microstructural treatment, is proposed.Next it is shown that collocations do not have lexical item status and can therefore not betreated in the same way as multi-word lexical items. However, provision must be made that somecollocations may need additional microstructural treatment addressed to them.Lastly, inclusion strategies for multi-word compound lexical items, which frequently occur inEnglish, are discussed. The practice of sublemmatising so-called "transparent" compound lexicalitems and giving them no or little microstructural treatment, is shown to be inappropriate forschool dictionaries.Hopefully the guidelines provided in this article can be of some help in clearing up the muddledapproaches currently followed in some South African monolingual school dictionaries.

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